The Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, has said that his administration does not plan to borrow any money to fund it’s budget.
The governor stated this while marking the 33rd anniversary of the state’s creation at the Governor’s Lodge.
He rubbished reports claiming that his government plans on borrowing ₦245 billion to fund the 2024 budget
Soludo argued that his administration cannot borrow ₦245 billion while running a deficit of ₦121 billion for the 2024 appropriation.
He also explained that the state is focusing on projects and programmes that are bankable, adding that borrowing is only considered for projects with a high probability of generating returns to repay the debt.
According to him, “The report about Anambra planning to borrow N245 billion to fund the 2024 budget is not true, and I don’t know where they got that story from.
“Let’s make it clear that I have a specific view about borrowing. Every enterprise, whether private or public, that wants to scale up its activities must consider the funds, the options, the opportunities, the cost of those funds, and the time value for money.
“It might make sense to borrow today to provide goods and services, with the expectation that tomorrow the economy will generate resources to pay back.
“Let’s be clear, this administration under my watch has a particular view on borrowing, and we have very stringent criteria for it.”
He added, “In 2022, the State House of Assembly approved borrowing N100 billion for a supplementary budget, but to this moment, we have not borrowed a kobo of that amount.
“Last year, 2023, we had an implicit budget deficit of about N90 billion, but we did not borrow a kobo for that, and this year we have a deficit of about N121 billion, and we have not borrowed a kobo for that either.
“The reason is simple: we are working on projects and programmes that will be bankable. We insist on borrowing only for bankable projects that have a high probability of generating returns to repay the debt.”